African Women

ARTICLES ABOUT AFRICAN WOMEN BY DATE - PAGE 2

A study showing an alarming gap in breast cancer death rates for black and white women in Chicago has mobilized health experts to find the root causes and recommend within a year ways to reduce the unusually high mortality among African-Americans. Why black women are more likely to die of breast cancer is unclear, but medical leaders said genetics, lack of awareness about breast self-examination, inability to afford routine mammograms and limited access to medical facilities may play crucial roles.

Killings, rapes and indiscriminate attacks on civilians continue in Darfur, the United Nations said Friday, accusing Sudanese soldiers of apparently coordinating with armed militia in terrorizing the troubled region. The report from the High Commissioner for Human Rights chastised the government of Omar el-Bashir, saying promises to end centuries of discrimination of black African minorities were marked by "token gestures" while murder and torture go unpunished. There has been growing pressure for stronger sanctions by the UN Security Council, to be chaired from February by the United States, which accuses Sudan's government of genocide.

With 80 percent of black women using chemicals, irons and dryers to straighten their hair, the market for products to treat stressed-out ethnic hair has grown to more than $1.5 billion. It will likely get bigger with more research into new products to treat dryness, prevent breakage and stop overtreated hair from coming out in clumps. One of the biggest efforts is going on here at the South Loop-based L'Oreal Institute for Ethnic Hair and Skin Research. The 2-year-old institute is merging scientific research with business marketing needs for African-American women, most of whom have hair with a higher degree of fragility.

Some days at Teazze Unisex Salon on the South Side, it's hard to tell which is hotter--the gossip, the curling irons or Sebastian, the sultry male stylist who is fond of giving free neck rubs. Owned by Angela Middleton, Teazze is a lot like the salon depicted in the new film "Beauty Shop," a celebration of the free-flowing exchanges and cultural sisterhood particular to salons patronized mostly by black women. For Middleton, it's a living, and a good one at that. Renting out booths to stylists--all 16 of Teazze's are occupied--plus what she earns styling hair affords her an annual income of about $60,000 a year, which pays for her Land Rover sport-utility vehicle and enables her to support her 13-year-old daughter.

A Kenyan environmental activist who for 30 years has battled to stop deforestation, empower women and halt government land-grabs won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, the first African woman to receive the award. Wangari Maathai, 64, the country's deputy environmental minister and leader of its Green Belt Movement, said she was shocked and delighted at her surprise selection. At a ceremony near her home and in sight of Mt. Kenya, where some of the nation's largest remaining forest reserves are located, Maathai said she was "overwhelmed" and thanked her supporters.

Irene Wambui can't imagine why anyone would buy a baby stroller. She sees it as a cold cage filled with useless rattles, cup holders and mirrored headlights. Imagine children being stuffed into such a contraption and pushed around town like some kind of pet. Yet here she is in the middle-class Westlands shopping district, trying to sell her store's newest merchandise, the four-wheeled plastic and metal tool of modern motherhood. But so far, strollers have been a flop in Nairobi, an affront to tradition.

African women have a 1 in 16 chance of dying during childbirth--a rate 175 times greater than that in the West, the United Nations said Monday. Most maternal deaths and disability result from delays in recognizing complications, reaching a medical facility or receiving quality care, said the study by the World Health Organization, the Children's Fund and the Population Fund. "Much of this death and suffering could be avoided if all women had the assistance of a skilled health worker during pregnancy and delivery and access to emergency medical care when complications arise," the study said.

On a gray Saturday afternoon, Yehia Hair Designs on 53rd Street was steaming. The smell of freshly pressed hair wafted through the humid mist of hair spray. Yehia, the tall, soft-spoken owner with gray-flecked black hair, gently turned his client's straightened hair into feathered waves. About 20 women, most of them black, flipped through magazines and chatted about fighting winter blues as they waited their turn. "I've tried other hairstylists throughout the course of the year, and my family always says, `You better go back to Yehia,'" Karen Beal said.

A federal appeals court temporarily has blocked the deportation of a Dallas woman who says that she and her 3-year-old daughter, who was born in the United States, would be subjected to genital mutilation if she were forced to return to her native Nigeria. Terming female genital mutilation a form of torture, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit last Friday granted Philomena Nwaokolo's request for a review of her case to ensure that her toddler daughter is "not forced into exile to be tortured."

Many women--white, black and every shade in between--have subjected their tresses to various torments during the Reign of Straight-Haired Terror. But many African-American women, like Nadra Smiley (right) are shaking free of chemical straighteners and returning to natural. Those who are drawing the most second looks have hair that is dreadlocked, twisted, coiled, braided or cut into short Afros. At Ajes The Salon Inc. in Chicago, owner A. J. Johnson says the percentage of clients requesting natural hair has gone from 20 percent six years ago to 70 percent now. And Tenee Smiley, artistic director at Amazon Natural Look Salon in Chicago, says the transformation goes beyond appearances when a client goes natural.